VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic bishops have called for a more welcoming church for cohabitating couples, gays and Catholics who have divorced and civilly remarried, endorsing Pope Francis’ call for a more merciful and less judgmental church.JUBA, South Sudan >> Eighty civilians, including 57 children, were killed in just one county in war-torn Unity state between October 4 and 22, according to a group of humanitarian organizations monitoring civilian casualties in South Sudan. Bishops from around the world adopted a final document Saturday at the end of a divisive, three-week synod on providing better care for Catholic families.

It emphasizes the role of discernment and individual conscience in dealing with difficult family situations — a method favored by more liberal bishops. Beginning Friday, Sotheby’s New York is holding its preview exhibition for four days only, from Saturday through Tuesday, goes on sale November 4, kicking off two weeks of blockbuster sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. There were reports of widespread use of sexual violence, including more than 50 rape cases, said the Protection Cluster, representing 60 local and international organizations. Kuong Kuony, the rebel’s commissioner for Leer County, accused government troops of launching attacks on rebel positions, burning civilian houses, and looting livestock. The lineup features names of Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko, Alberto Giacometti, Amedeo Modigliani, with price tags run $25–$35 million.

The U.N. and human rights groups have documented widespread abuses against civilians, including rapes and killings by government soldiers and their militia, in Unity state this year. If it reaches its estimated $500 million trophy, it would be the most valuable private collection sold at auction, vying the $477 million sale of designer Yves Saint Laurent’s estate at Christie’s in Paris in 2009.

South Sudan has been at war since December 2013 as government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battle rebels led by his former deputy, Riek Machar, a Nuer. On Nov. 18, works of American art go on the auction block, including a large landscape by Martin Johnson Heade, “The Great Florida Sunset,” painted in 1887.